"That's okay, then," he said. "Amy has another idea... one about bees and honey. We have bees in the Kakamega forest... little ones that don't sting.... they're African bees... indigenous, true and truly" he said, followed by a big grin. And then he went on. "Amy has a friend who knows how to start up beehives, and if we can build a bunch of them, Amy saze she can make enough honey to sell to the whole village. No one has ever done it like a business before. Some people even use the honey for medicine, so I know they'll buy it."
The committee listened intently, obviously impressed with the idea. They asked a few questions, and Moses had the right answers for everything. Finally, they asked him and Kyme to step out into the hallway while they discussed the proposal amongst themselves.
"That was excellent," Kyme said to Moses when they were alone in the hallway; and he shook his hand enthusiastically. "Now we just have to wait and see."
They were there quite a while when the woman with the short hair poked her head out the door and asked Kyme to come in.
"Shall I bring Moses with me?" he asked.
"No, it won't be long. He can wait here," she said.
Kyme went in and Moses waited anxiously. The door and walls were thick, but he thought he could hear some raised voices, and that made him nervous.
Then the door burst open and Kyme came out.
"Come with me," he said to Moses, and reached his right hand toward Moses' good arm, while his left hand pointed toward the street outside. Moses had no choice but to follow him.
"What happened?" he said when they were outside of the building.
"They were never going to help you in the first place," he said angrily. "The whole meeting was a farce. They let me bring you all the way over here for nothing."
"What do you mean? How do you know that?" Moses asked, feeling the anger in Kyme's voice.
"They said your request was a good one. It fit all of the criteria for a grant. But they said that the bottom line is that it needs to be made to someone in London. British Quakers are responsible for projects in Kenya, they say, and Australia supports work in Uganda."
Moses just listened, bug-eyed.
"They could have told me that right at the start, but they didn't want to hurt my feelings. They wanted me to think they were giving you a fair hearing. A fair hearing... hah! They were never going to help you!"
It was about then that Kyme started thinking beyond his own hurt and to realise that his anger could spread to Moses and, of course, to Amy, since they had as much reason to feel disappointed as he did. He looked across at Moses as they strode toward Central Railway Station.
"Don't worry. Amy will get her money," he said. "I can cover it myself. I don't know why I even bothered asking them in the first place. I'll go to the bank tomorrow, and get out $6,000. That's enough for a whole year. And Amy can raise rabbits or make honey or sell bloody chocolate lamingtons, for all I care!"
Moses decided right then that Kyme was definitely the best Christian he had ever known, even though Kyme himself had never said anything about what he believed.
"C'mon, you wanna see some of the sites of Sydney before we go back to Deb's place?" he asked.
"Sure," Moses replied.
"There's Chinatown, the museum, the art gallery, or a boat across the harbour to the zoo. Which would you prefer?"
"Oh the boat, for definite sure!" Moses shouted.
And the older man reached out to give him a little hug on the shoulder as they turned toward Circular Quay.
Table of contents
Chapter 12. Back Home
Moses never did meet Deb's sons till the day before he flew out; but all the exciting things he did with Kyme over those next few days more than made up for it. They saw amazing buildings, great exhibitions, and top class sporting events; but the best part was just being with Kyme. His real father was regarded as "dead" because of the murder, but Moses now had two others to take the place, one in America and one here in Australia.
He attended an Australian Quaker "meeting" on Sunday the same day that he met Deb's two sons. Kyme had explained that the meeting would be held totally in silence, unless God gave someone something to share with the rest of the meeting. The idea of God talking through someone in the meeting was exciting, and Moses wondered what He would say.
"A whole hour, and all they said was that there's goin' ta be a parade next week?" Moses complained when he was alone with Kyme after the meeting. "That's not a message from God; it's an 'ouncement."
Kyme reminded him that the man who made the announcement had asked Friends to pray for the festival ("Hold it in the light" was how he put it.) because it would be the first time the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras was held in September, and organisers were fearful that it would not be as successful as it had been in previous years. Quakers were keen Mardi Gras supporters.
"It's still not a message from God," Moses argued, and Kyme decided not to push the point.
Todd and Michael, Deb's sons, rolled out of bed for a late lunch at her house after the others had returned from the meeting for worship. The boys were polite and friendly, but not particularly interested in Moses or where he was coming from. Moses tried to discuss global warming with them, but they showed little interest apart from some private joke about burning a pot, that Moses could not make sense of.
The brothers left after lunch to meet up with their friends, but Moses didn't mind, because he and Kyme were going to tour a big old sailing ship in Darling Harbour before watching a movie on a screen that was bigger than the biggest house he had ever seen. Kyme said that things on the screen would jump out at them like they were real, and they certainly did! Moses wore special paper glasses to get the effect.
On Monday, Kyme arrived quite early to take him to the airport, for the flight back to Nairobi. Kyme had taken time off work during the previous week, in order to be with Moses and he had to be back in Newcastle by midday. Kyme agreed to send used stamps and to stay in touch by mail and phone. In addition, he gave Moses several hundred dollars in cash for Amy. He placed it in a money belt which Moses could wear under his shirt. The rest of Kyme's gift was sent by electronic transfer.
Without a doubt, it had been the best week of Moses' young life, and he went over and over it in his mind on the way home. He now had two very special friends, and through text messaging he could afford to contact both Kyme and Ray at least once a week.
The welcome from Amy was a huge improvement on her reaction when Moses had returned from Chicago. She actually broke down in tears as she thanked him.
"I don't know why you're thanking me, Amy," he said. "I should be thanking you. You won't believe all the things Kyme and me did." Amy did believe, of course, because she had been raised in Australia; but it was very different for Rosy. Rosy found it hard to even picture what Moses was talking about, much less decide whether or not he had made it up. Nevertheless, he talked about it all for weeks after that, giving Rosy a better picture of what life was like outside of their village.
* * *
By December, when Moses turned 15, things were looking very good for him and his sister. Work on the foundation for their new house had begun; they were eating better; and Moses had started taking one day a week off to do "studies". He read everything he could get his hands on, including some magazines that Deb and Kyme had given him just before he left Australia. What he learned through reading the articles on global warming made him something of a local expert on that andotherenvironmentalissues,whichheoftendiscussed with his customers and other boda-boda drivers. Moses faithfully passed the postage stamps on to Amy, but he treasured the handwritten letters and regular text messages he received from Kyme and Ray, as though they were coming from his own father.
Table of contents
Chapter 13. Josephat Returns
In January, Josephat turned up again, still talking about God destroying those who destroy the earth.
He never stops, Moses thought, wo
ndering how the man could possibly maintain his enthusiasm for something that everyone must know was not going to happen. If anything, Josephat seemed more intense than ever.
For all his skepticism, Moses still felt drawn to leave his post and walk the bike over to where a small crowd was listening to Josephat once again.
"Don't take it, brothers and sisters. Don't take it."
He was talking about the microchip implant, that was growing in popularity.
"It's of the devil," he warned. "Most of you know that already. You don't need me to tell you."
Moses was surprised to hear this. How would the others know what Winky had told him? Perhaps Josephat had been talking about the implant more than he realised. Or did these people know from some other source?
"We know about the Mark," said Obadiah, the post master. He had closed the office once again, so he could listen in. "We heard about it in our churches. But is this implant the same thing? Some of us are goin' ta need it just to keep our jobs."
"Same as the Bible saze," Josephat responded. "Can't buy or sell without it. But it comes from the Beast... the one who dies and comes back to life again."
"But how're we goin' ta feed our families?" asked a man in the audience.
"Better to ask how're you goin' ta obey God," Josephat replied. "If you can't trust him to feed you and your kids without the Mark, then what kind of God is he anyway?"
"How do you pay for things, Josh?" asked someone else. "I never see you using money."
"I do a little," Josephat explained, "but I been training. Living simple. Listening to God. Helping other people. Then I just trust God to do the rest. I get by."
"Well, we can't all live like that," Obadiah replied. "We got a scanner in the post office even now, and soon they say it's all we're goin' ta have."
Others in the crowd looked at Obadiah in surprise. It was the first they had heard that the microchip might replace cash altogether. Most of them still didn't have an implant.
"I probably wasn't supposed to say that," Obadiah said. "But it's what the memos from Nairobi been telling me. Might still be a few years, though."
Moses wondered what the other boda-boda drivers were going to do if that happened. He was thankful that he already had a scanner.
"God's goin' ta destroy them that destroys the earth," Josephat repeated, taking the crowd back to his original point. "Like it or not, that's what I hafta say."
"What does that have to do with scanners and microchips?" asked Obadiah.
"I can't say that I know, but it does," Josephat said, and he stood to leave.
Obadiah re-opened the post office, and the crowd drifted quietly away. But Moses was still interested in Josephat, who was walking away from the markets and in the direction of Winky's house. Sure enough, he kept right on walking until he was out of the village; and then he turned in at the gate in front of Winky's.
Moses followed from a distance on the bike.
* * *
"I'm here to make some inquisitions," the boy said, when Amy had answered the door and asked what brought him there. She smiled kindly and let him in.
"Moses, I think you know Josephat," she said as she offered a seat across from the itinerant preacher. Karla was sleeping on the couch, and Benjie was playing on the floor with some tiny boxes that he had put bottle caps on to make wheels.
"Josephat, this is a young friend of mine. His names are Moses Chikati." Then, after a pause: "So what kind of 'inquisitions' do you want to ask, Moses?"
Moses was not sure what he wanted to ask. "How long before we all need to have the Mark?" he began.
"Can't say," Josephat said. "It was Obadiah who was talkin' 'bout that. Maybe you should talk to him."
But it wasn't Obadiah that was bothering Moses. It was Josephat.
"You say God is going to destroy people. Who? People here in Shinyalu?" "I don't know for sure," Josephat confessed again. "I don't think it's people right here; but it might be."
More of his confusing double-talk, thought Moses.
"If you want people to believe you, you have to be more, well... plain about what you say," Moses lectured.
He knew that what he was about to say was going to hurt Amy, but he wanted to hurt Josephat even more. "You know, even Winky doesn't agree with what you're saying. She doesn't believe in all that end of the world stuff. She told me. Didn't you, Winky?"
It had the desired effect. Josephat looked stunned, and glanced toward Amy, who looked embarrassed.
"But I'm starting to believe it, Moses," Amy said calmly. "It just takes a while. Besides, like Josephat says, even he doesn't know all of what is going to happen."
"He doesn't know any of it, to my way of thinking," Moses said under his breath. "It's just balderdash."
Then he stuck his chest out to emphasise his own confidence, and said, "The people who are destroying the earth are the rich people... from places like America and England. They do it by mining, and drilling, and desolating rain forests, and wasting resources. They put poisons into the water and even into the air that we breathe. They're the ones you need to preach at."
He looked straight at the preacher and said, "You don't need to preach your sermons here, Josephat. People in Shinyalu aren't the ones who destroy the earth."
"You may be right," said Josephat, surprising Moses at how easily he had accepted what the boy had just told him. "You seem to know more about it than I do. I just had those words to preach, and the spirit of God burning deep inside of me."
"So if the rich countries are goin' ta be destroyed, why tell it to people in Shinyalu?" Moses asked angrily.
"I can't truly say," Josephat said humbly. "Maybe we just need to know... now... before it happens."
"But if you don't even know what's going to happen, then you just end up confounding the people," Moses argued.
Josephat said nothing, and Amy shifted uneasily.
"Moses, have you ever thought of throwing out your scanner?" she asked after an awkward silence. "You know, you still could."
"Whatever made you ask that?" Moses said. "I need the scanner for my business. If Obadiah's right, we're all goin' ta need them soon."
Amy blinked involuntarily and looked disappointed.
"Winky, you said my job is to take care of Rosy, right? How'm I goin' ta do that, if I don't have a job?"
"I didn't mean it that way, son," she replied. "But I do want to talk to you about Rosy. She's been coming over after school for the past few weeks. She wants to move in with us. Has she said anything to you about it?"
"No way! She never said nothing!" Moses shouted. "Sides, how could you know what she's thinking?"
"She's starting to open up and share things, Moses. I hope you won't get upset with her and scare her, now that she's talking," Amy pleaded.
"You're the one who's upsetting her," Moses argued. "She's exactly OK with me. We're goin' ta have our own house in a year... a brick one, almost as big as yours."
"Moses, Rosy loves you, and she knows you love her; but she wants to come here," and Amy paused before adding, "to help, and to be around the other children."
"You don't even take kids like us. I know the rules," Moses said angrily. "You just want to hurt me."
"We don't want to hurt you," Amy replied, as she looked to Josephat for help. "But this is different. Rosy believes God wants her here... to get ready for what's coming."
Moses jumped to his feet, too upset to stay seated. "Get ready for nothing!" he shouted. "It's all just talk. That's what I been telling you. Josephat doesn't even know hisself what he's talking about. First he mixed up your head, and now he's doing it to Rosy too. It's not fair. She's all I have!" And he let a tear sneak out before he rubbed his eyes and turned to walk away.
"Son, we don't want to hurt you," Amy pleaded, as she reached out to hug the boy and prevent him from going. The twitich in her eye was one of sheer pain now. "You could come too, if you really wa
nted." He let her hug him for just a moment, but Amy could feel that he would not come. So she finished by saying firmly, "Boy, if you really love your sister, please don't stop her."
He did not answer. He just shook her hands away from his body and continued on out the door.
When he was out of sight of anyone else, Moses sat down on the side of the road and let the tears flow. He had seen a change in Rosy. She was talking more. Amy had indeed worked magic on her. But how could he let her go? How could he live without her?
Table of contents
Chapter 14. Rosy Decides
Moses had little interest in work after the scene with Amy, so he finished earlier than usual that night. When he entered the hut, however, he found it empty. He looked around the shamba and could see that Rosy had not been tending the garden as she should have. Then, a few minutes later, she walked up the path. Rosy looked surprised and embarrassed to see him home already.
"You are earlier than me tonight," she said in Luhya, giggling. "Are you sick?"
"Where have you been?" he asked sternly in their mother tongue. "School finished two hours ago."
"I was visiting Winky. She said you came by this afternoon too." And she laughed.
"You can't do the planting and visit Winky at the same time," he said. "We will need the maize just to live when I start buying bricks."
They had already dug foundations for their future home, and the trenches were waiting for the walls to go up.
"Moses, I won't be here," Rosy said. And she neither laughed nor giggled.
So, it was true. She was going to move in with Winky. The options open to him raced through Moses' head before he spoke. He could see they were few.
"You can visit her," he pleaded. "Every day, if you like. But I need you, Rosy. Stay here with me. Please?"
"You don't need me," she said, and the customary laugh returned. "I eat more food than I grow." And she laughed again.
"It's not about food, Rosy." Moses was begging now. "You're my sister... my family. I want to take care of you. I don't want to live here all alone."
Rosy had never heard Moses express his feelings so candidly. It touched her deeply. She walked up to him and gave him a hug.